This 2.04 billion dollar contract for the tactical transport aircraft is the greatest export success ever for an airplane designed and manufactured in Italy

09:04 GMT, October 16, 2008 Finmeccanica, its subsidiaries Alenia Aeronautica and Alenia North America, and its US partner L-3 have delivered the first of the 78 C-27Js Spartan ordered last year within the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) programme, the joint US Army and Air Force programme for a tactical transport aircraft. The plane was delivered today in Waco, Texas to the United States’ Armed Forces.

“The delivery of the first C-27J Spartan to the US Armed Forces shows Finmeccanica’s capability to assert itself, also at an international level, by offering excellent technological products. The C-27J JCA is a project we are especially proud of: it is in fact the greatest export success ever obtained for an aircraft designed and manufactured in Italy and has been delivered to the customer on time and on budget. This achievement is shared with our US partner L-3 and the Finmeccanica team, especially Alenia Aeronautica and its subsidiary Alenia North America: managers, engineers, technicians and workers who have been working for many years on this important project” said Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, Chairman and CEO of Finmeccanica. “During these years we have devoted much attention to innovation and research, aware that a competitive challenge can only be won by offering ever more advanced and sophisticated products, like this tactical transport aircraft which is considered the best in the world in its class. The US is proving to be one of the major markets for Finmeccanica, not only because it has the most substantial defence budget, but also because it can drive access to other important markets”.

The 2.04 billion dollar contract for the supply of 78 C-27Js was signed on the 13th of June 2007. However the US Armed Forces envisage the acquisition of 145 airplanes of which 75 will be for the Army and 70 for the Air Force, with a total forecast of 207 aircraft within 10 years, with an estimated value of 6 billion dollars.

This is the greatest export success ever for an airplane designed and manufactured in Italy and it confirms the Italian engineering and manufacturing capabilities in the major defence market in the world.

The C-27J Spartan is the ideal answer to the US requirement, since it is a multi-role aircraft with high performance features, efficiency and operational effectiveness.

The C-27J JCA made its first flight on the 18th of June 2008 at the Flight Test Centre of Alenia Aeronautica’s Caselle plant, near Turin. The aircraft flew over the Atlantic, stopping in Iceland and Canada and reaching the US in mid August for the integration of some specific components required by the US Army. The second C-27J JCA is being tested in Italy and will reach Waco in the coming weeks; delivery to the US Armed Forces is planned for November 2008.


The selection of the C-27J can be added to other Finmeccanica companies’ successes in the US market, including helicopters for the US Presidential fleet, AgustaWestland’s civil helicopters assembled at Philadelphia facility, participation in the programme for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner commercial airplane for which Alenia Aeronautica makes in total 26% of the structure and the licence plates reader systems for law enforcement made by Elsag Datamat.

Finmeccanica’s companies in the US are: AgustaWestland, Oto Melara, Elsag Datamat, SELEX Sistemi Integrati, MBDA, Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio, AnsaldoBreda and Ansaldo STS, with a total of 2,100 employees.